Tennis Europe Junior Tour
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The Tennis Europe Junior Tour is the European tennis tour for players who are in the age range recognized by Tennis Europe as junior athletes. The Tour was organized by the European Tennis Association (ETA), now known as Tennis Europe.[1]
The Tennis Europe Junior Tour is now universally recognized as the first stepping stone for talented young players across Europe as they transition from domestic to international events.[2] Several future world No. 1 displayed their talents to an international audience for the first time on the European Junior Tour, including Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Amélie Mauresmo, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Marat Safin, and Mats Wilander.[3]
History
With the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990, the Tennis Europe Junior Tour was also created.[2][3][4] Founded in 1990 with 43 tournaments over two age groups, the Junior Tour has since grown and been divided into three age groups; 16 & Under, 14 & Under and 12 & Under, and as of 2022, these three categories combined for a total of some 450+ tournaments, staged across almost all 50 member nations of Tennis Europe,[2] and with the participation of over 12,000 players, including non-European players, such as Lleyton Hewitt, Kei Nishikori, Juan Martín Del Potro, Guillermo Coria, and Sania Mirza, who all got their first taste of European competition on the Junior Tour.[3]
Tournament grades
The Tennis European Junior Championships title is the most treasured prize of the Junior Tour.[3][5] Team events provide some of the highlights of the Junior Tour, with the Tennis Europe Winter Cups by Dunlop and the Summer Cups providing youngsters with an early opportunity to compete for their countries.[3] All three of them date back to the founding of Tennis Europe in the mid-1970s.[3]
The 16/14 & Under Tour events are played at three levels, ranging from the elite Category 1 events, which attract the strongest draws, to the more numerous and accessible Category 2 and 3 events.[3] Boys and girls events in both singles and doubles events are held at all tournaments, with some offering additional consolation tournaments for early losers.[3] In addition to their results, some juniors are more focused on player parties, cultural exchanges, and tourist trips during the events.[3]
The 12 & Under Tour differs in that no rankings are produced, and there are no Masters or European individual championship events, though the summer team event has been widely acclaimed.[3] From 2021, the 12 & Under Festival offers top players from the age group the chance to end the season at an invitational event hosted by the Rafa Nadal Academy.[3]
Overview
The Tennis Europe Junior Tour also boasts a cumulative weekly ranking,[6] 'Player of the Year' awards (former recipients include Rafael Nadal, Grigor Dimitrov, and Kim Clijsters), and a season-ending Masters tournament for the top eight performers in each category.[3] The best players from the Junior Tour then join the ITF Junior Circuit, which allows them to compete for the Junior Grand Slam titles, establish a world junior ranking and give them a chance to get an ATP or WTA ranking.[7] The ITF Junior Circuit is thus basically the player pathway between the junior game and the elite levels of professional tennis.[7]
Alongside Petits As and the Tim Essonne, the European Junior Championships remain the most popular and prestigious tournaments in the Junior Tennis calendar year, for players and national federations alike.[4][5]
See also
References
- ^ "Tennis Europe". www.tenniseurope.org. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ a b c "30 years of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour". www.kungenskanna.com. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Tennis Europe Junior Tour - 16/14/12 & Under". www.tenniseurope.org. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ a b "25 years of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour by Tennis Europe". issuu.com. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ a b "European Junior Championships". www.tenniseurope.org. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ "Tennis Europe - Tennis Europe Ranking - Overview". te.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ a b "What is the ITF World Tennis Tour?". www.itftennis.com. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.